Iranian-backed Shi’ite forces in Syria could play weighty role in war

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has already deployed tens of thousands of Shi’ite militiamen throughout Syria, including the Houthi presence.

By Yaakov Lappin, JNS

The presence of tens of thousands of Iran-backed Shi’ite military-terror operatives in Syria was recently brought to the public’s attention following reports that Houthi Yemeni fighters were making their way to the country, as part of preparations to attack Israel.

The Islamic Republic has worked diligently to entrench its military position in Syria, providing support to various Shi’ite militias, including Hezbollah, which has been trying to build terror bases in the south, and militia members from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria itself, among others.

These efforts are part of Iran’s broader strategy to surround Israel with bases of attack across the Middle East.

On Sunday, the IDF’s international spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, acknowledged the threat but told JNS that the military was not aware of any dramatic new developments in Syria in this context.

“Iran has been backing and funding terror all across the Middle East— Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Judea and Samaria,” he said. Shoshani added that while “we’re facing that terror,” there is nothing significantly new in the past 24 hours or so.”

An i24 report from Sept. 15 said that Yemeni Houthi fighters arrived in Syria, with the intention of moving towards Israel’s border in the Golan Heights. The report cited a Houthi source as stating, “This is a prelude to a new phase of escalation against Israel.”

Professor Eyal Zisser, vice rector of Tel Aviv University and holder of the Yona and Dina Ettinger Chair in Contemporary History of the Middle East, told JNS, “The Iranian entrenchment in Syria is significant. Israel has blocked some of it, but they continue, and they have forces—Shi’ite militias under their control—deployed on Syrian soil.”

Also in a Sept. 15 report, the Alma Research and Education Center, which specializes in security threats in the northern arena, noted a number of unverified reports that claimed Houthis have been arriving in Syria in groups of several dozen over many months, via Iran, Iraq and Jordan.

“It appears that in most cases, Houthi operatives infiltrate Syria under civilian cover and are subsequently dispatched to Damascus and southern Syria. Among other things, we know that the operatives use student status and the appearance of pilgrims visiting Shi’a-related holy places as cover, a practice we are familiar with from the Iranian corridor to Syria,” the report states.

“In our assessment, there is a Houthi presence in Syria. We do not know the magnitude of this presence. According to various reports, the Houthi force in Syria currently numbers several thousand fighters. Some are mainly trained in the operation of UAVs and ballistic missiles. We are unable to confirm this,” it adds.

“In Syria, the Houthis have a formal military representation. Colonel Sharaf al-Mawri is the Houthi military attaché in Syria. The Syrians regularly invite Al-Mawri to formal military events and he maintains regular contact with Syrian security officials. In our assessment, one of Al-Mawri’s missions is to coordinate Houthi activity on Syrian soil vis-à-vis the Iranians, Hezbollah and the Syrian regime.”

The presence of Houthi operatives in southern Syria, along with Iranian-backed combatants from other Shi’ite militias, “could signal a concrete threat in the form of a ground-specific or extensive invasion of Israel’s territory in the Golan Heights. This is in addition to the launching of UAVs, missiles, etc. by Houthi operatives from Syrian soil against Israel,” the Alma Center warned.

It noted that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has already deploys tens of thousands of Shi’ite militiamen throughout Syria, including the Houthi presence. The report warned that “if an all-out war breaks out between Hezbollah and Israel, Syria in general and southern Syria in particular will constitute a central arena from which Shi’ite militia operatives will operate.

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